Teens Don't Buy Legit MP3s Because They Can't?

iSeal writes "According to a recent study, 13-17 year olds are both the most likely to pirate music, and also the most likely to own a portable MP3 player. Yet, as this article goes on to say, the lack of credit card ownership prevents teens from buying music online. The author maintains that since regular record shops don't sell MP3s, or gift cards to places that do sell MP3s, its practically impossible for teens to buy legit MP3s on their own. From the article: 'If the only way to obtain music online continues to be through illegitimate means, then we are no better off than in the days of Napster.'" I'm not sure I agree with some of the conclusions here (you can buy iTunes cards at Walgreens), but it's an interesting discussion.

Comments

Re:DRM

[reub2000]

Try eMusic. I *heart* their merge records and matador collection.

Debit Cards

[jjeffrey]

OK Credit Cards aren't available to under 18's but in the UK at least you can get a debit card from as young as 13 - a lot of kids have them and they work on iTunes here.

Not the same in the US?

Re:Debit Cards

[TheRaven64]

I thought it was completely bizarre when I lived in Canada for three years and they'd done it the other way. I couldn't figure out why anyone would think it was a good idea to introduce a new, incompatible card type.

In the UK, the reason is historical. In the '70s, there were three credit card suppliers; Access, Mastercard and Visa. Visas were only issued by Barclays (Barclaycard and Visa were synonymous when I was growing up). Mastercard was predominantly a US brand, and was quite uncommon. Access has since been bought be Mastercard, and so they are more common.

Most banks didn't issue debit cards at all. They would give you a cash-card, which you could use to withdraw money from a machine and (optionally) a credit card. The Switch brand was created by a group of UK banks to avoid paying fees to a third party for issuing debit cards. Barclays, already a Visa issuer, issued Visa Delta cards under the band of 'Barclays Connect,' as a replacement for cheques which were still common at the time.

These days, there is still a distinction between cards issued by banks (which are tied to a bank account) and credit cards, which are often issued by a third party. My credit card, for example, is provided by Egg, with whom I do not have a current account. For minors, Visa Electron and Solo cards are common. These are similar to normal debit cards, but perform a balance enquiry prior to authorising payment, so you can not go overdrawn using one (minors can not enter into contracts placing them in debt in the UK).

Re:Debit Cards

[Mr2001]

In America, we don't have a Switch/Interacc type of debit card. Anything issued by a bank is Visa or Mastercard branded.

Actually, we do... your debit or credit cards probably have logos on the back like Star, Plus, Cirrus, Instant Cash, Interlink, etc. Those are debit networks, and when you use your debit card at a store and they give you the option to enter your PIN instead of signing, they're trying to get you to use those networks instead of the Visa/MC network (which charges higher fees). Before the Visa check card was introduced, that was the only way to pay electronically from your bank account.

iTunes gift cards

[Rik Sweeney]

In the UK there are quite a few places you can buy iTunes Gift Cards / Vouchers (Tesco, Sainsbury, Argos). Coca-Cola are doing a promotion at the moment where you get a free download from iTunes with each bottle bought. Of course this is limited to 3 per household and you also need to like Coca-Cola*

You also need to have an iPod and iTunes.

*This isn't strictly true as you could buy the bottle for the voucher and give away the drink, or not drink it at all

I disagree

[Propagandhi]

I had a debit card when I was 15-18 so I could have bought music off the web had I chosen to and had the option been available. The real problem is that teens don't have that much cash. All my money was going into my ball and chain at the time (otherwise known as D&D), the ability to pirate music was there so I did it. Pirated music was a lot better than no music at all.

Re:I disagree

[unapersson]

The industry always wants to have it both ways though. They want to create this desire to have the hottest new things they are producing at the time. While pushing this desire at a group that doesn't necessarily have the resources to buy what they're demanding they "must have". So this whole sharing situation is a natural result of that marketing.

They want teens to buy CDs, DVDs and games by getting hold of as much of their part time job or parents money as possible. That's why the losses to piracy figures are so laughable, they're claiming loss of money that just isn't there. It's the money budgeted for luxuries that has already been absorbed by another one of their arms.

Re:Lack of CC ownership... I don't think so

[cplater]

First off, Apple has changed thier policy, and will not allow you at least one redownload of content after a catastrophe. It amazes me that people assume this function is there in the first place. When you buy a CD, and then you loose it / scratch it /etc., do you expect the record shop from where you purchased to replace it? Why do you think iTunes constantly reminds you to backup your content? It's your responsibility to manage your data, not Apple. As far as buying music you don't like, the same thing happens w/ CDs these days. This is one of the reasons that iTunes has a place. You can buy just the one song you're interested in, and skip the rest of the CD if you don't like it.
It seem the bigger problem is with the music industry today, and the crap that's out there these days. I couldn't agree more. Hopefully iTunes, et. al. will force the record companies to rethink their stratagies, and stop pushing out crap. IMNSHO they have yet to realize that the problem with the music industry is that the current artists are putting out crappy records which is the reason for the decreases in sales.

Re:I don't buy MP3s because...

[transporter_ii]

"Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against - then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens' What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."

- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Re:DRM

[TheRaven64]

Allofmp3.com pay artists at the same rate as radio stations; something to the order of $1 per thousand listeners (which means a thousand downloads in their case). And that's only if the artists actually claim the fees, which is likely to cost more to do than they will receive. While it may be legal, and certainly is convenient, it doesn't address the key problem:

I want to be able to download music, in a format of my choice, at a reasonable price, and have the artists compensated adequately.

This is a real problem for our society, and it extends beyond music. Did you know that someone who puts an amazon link to a book on their site receives a greater share of the sale price than the author? Which do you think contributed more to society? Napoleon described the British as a nation of shopkeepers. Two centuries later, his comment could be applied to much of western civilisation. Advertisers and sellers are worth more than creators. Just look at the darling of Wall Street, Google. The only product they sell is advertising.

Re:well then

[ZorinLynx]

This only happens if you configure your iPod to let iTunes manage it completely. It'll also ask before it wipes out anything on the iPod.

If you set the iPod to manually manage music, you can use it on as many computers as you wish without a problem. Heck, you can even copy DRMed iTunes tracks from a number of different authorized machines to it, and it'll play them all without a problem.

Please, stop circulating FUD just because you don't know how to use the software. :)

-Z

Canada... no DUH

[thenewme91]

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but this article links to a PC World CANADA Article. Do any of you live in Canada?

FYI, Banks in Canada do not issue Credit Cards to persons under 18? Why? Because they need a credit check, for which permission can only be legally granted by a legal adult (person 18 or over, assuming they're not detached from their parents (you can be independant from your parents @ 16 and then grant the bank this permission) or whatever that legal term was). Want to be sure? E-mail Toronto-Dominion Canada Trust (TD Canada Trust), RBC Royal Bank, Scotia Bank, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada (CIBC) or any other Canadian bank and ask. Their websites can be found with Google.

Prepaid credit cards are sold in Canada as gift cards by two small bank companies in B.C., and the service fees are extravagant... not to mention no one has heard of the things. ( Visa and Mastercard think that Interac (see below) removes the necessity for prepaid credit cards. The government seems barely aware of them, since it doesn't recommend them as part of their choosing a credit card pages on their website. ) While it *IS* possible to get a debit card in Canada from a young age, this debit card only comes with the "Interac Direct Payment" service (and maybe access to PLUS in the USA). Until recently, it was impossible to use this online, and even now, with "Interac Online" only a few retailers support the system. Most Canadian retailers (iTunes Canada anyone? How about Canadian Tire? Best Buy? Future Shop?) still want credit cards... not to mention credit card companies are practically the only way to get money outside the country. (Interac is a CANADIAN debit system.)

I know things are different in the USA (prepaid credit cards) and UK (online debit) and other European countries (Swatch/Maestro or whatever), but at least look at the source. In Canada, where we probably have (I think) one of the lowest rates of population per square kilometer, kids can't buy legitimate MP3s online.

And there goes the problem of the Internet - it's world wide. But business isn't. And because laws are different in different countries. For now, anyway.